Chandler council forms charter review committee with timeline to consider ballot options

City staff described formation and timeline for a City Charter Review Committee during the June 9 Chandler City Council study session, explaining how the committee’s schedule ties to election deadlines.

Ryan Peters, the city’s Strategic Initiatives Director, said the committee will be formally effective in about 30 days after council action and that meetings are expected to begin in late July or early August. Peters said the committee will meet through fall and winter with the expectation of presenting recommendations to the City Council before the February meeting so staff can meet county deadlines for pre-election scheduling and ballot preparation. Peters said the committee will solicit public input and that staff and the city attorney had already prepared a set of items where they saw opportunities to modernize or clarify charter language.

Why it matters: Peters told council the committee’s work would need to align with county deadlines if the council chose to place charter questions on a primary (August) or a November ballot. Staff outlined timing constraints: calling an election requires lead time (described by the city clerk in the session as roughly 180 days before the election and with ballot-language deadlines measured in months), so choosing a November general-election target would require the committee and staff to complete their work on an accelerated timetable to meet ballot-call and language deadlines.

Councilmember Harris urged caution on rushing ballot questions and said she wanted the committee to be deliberate given the charter’s length. Peters and other staff said they will present the committee’s recommendations to council and take public input throughout the process.

Formal action/direction: The council approved forming the committee (the item was called in for discussion); staff said the committee will be appointed and will begin meeting later this summer. The transcript notes the committee will return recommendations for council consideration and that the city clerk provided election-deadline guidance on timing (call-election and ballot-language lead times). No final ballot decision was made at the study session.

What’s next: Staff will finalize committee membership, meeting schedules and public outreach; the committee will deliberate through fall and winter with the goal of reporting back in time to meet county deadlines for any potential 2026 ballot placement.